UH medical school dean accepts post in Texas

Samuel Shomaker will become dean at the University of Texas Medical Branch

The interim dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine never got the chance to apply for the permanent job and now is leaving the University of Hawaii to take a job at the University of Texas' medical school.

Samuel Shomaker will become dean of the Austin Programs at the University of Texas Medical Branch. His appointment is effective Sept. 1.

Shomaker said he did not apply for a permanent appointment as dean of UH's medical school because the school has yet to release a final job description.

"I would've certainly liked to know the university's expectation of the dean of the school of medicine to see if I could be successful," he said.

The University of Texas' medical school is in Galveston, but it has a partnership with the Austin campus on medical curriculum, research and residency programs. It also has a partnership with Seton Healthcare Network, a nonprofit organization that operates hospitals and clinics throughout Central Texas.

Shomaker said his responsibilities will include expanding the medical course offering in Austin, creating residency programs and collaborating with Seton on clinical programs and with UT-Austin on biomedical research.

The research includes biodefense and biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, computer sciences and drug modeling, and pharmacy cardiovascular modeling. UT-Austin also has a new 3 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner that will be used for neurology and psychology research.

"I think it'll be fun," Shomaker said.

A search advisory committee for a permanent dean at the UH medical school started meeting in May to select an executive search firm. The committee chose Korn/Ferry International.

Gary Ostrander, UH-Manoa vice chancellor for research, is co-chairman of the committee. He said announcements of the job opening started appearing in medical journals in the last couple of weeks. And individuals have been applying, being nominated and sending material to the committee, he said.

The committee expects to have a long list of applicants to review by September, Ostrander said.

UTMB started its search for a dean of Austin programs last December, said Jackie Genovese, UTMB spokeswoman. The job was previously handled by a medical school faculty member, she said.

Shomaker joined UH's medical school in 2000 as associate dean. He became acting dean in February 2005 when then-Dean Edwin Cadman began medical leave. He was named interim dean four months later when Cadman resigned after he was diagnosed with a neuro-degenerative disorder.

Shomaker received his medical degree from UH in 1986. He also completed his internship in surgery here in 1987.